Hotel Group Refinances Portfolio With €190M Loan, As Dalata Opens Croke Park Outpost
The MHL Hotel Collection hotel group, formed by U.S. billionaire John Malone and Irish partners Paul Higgins and John Lally, has completed a €190M refinancing with AIB for four hotels.
The College Green Dublin — which hosted Bisnow’s Ireland Hotel event on 14 May — Galmont (Galway), Trinity City (Dublin) and Limerick Strand hotels are all included, following AIB's refinancing of Dublin's InterContinental and Spencer hotels last year.
AIB previously provided development loans for a 112-bedroom extension to the Hilton Charlemont in Dublin, which opened in late 2025. The refinance included an increase of €70M, €50M of which was green finance related to the College Green, Limerick Strand and Trinity City hotels.
The MHL Hotel Collection is the second-largest Irish hotel group, with 14 hotels and more than 2,650 rooms.
The biggest, Dalata Hotel Group, has opened the Maldron Hotel Croke Park with development partner McAleer & Rushe, the 27th hotel under the Maldron brand, which has a total of 4,618 rooms across Ireland and the UK.
Located at the junction of Clonliffe Road and Jones’ Road, opposite Croke Park Stadium, the hotel opened on 14 May, has 200 rooms and is Dalata’s 21st hotel in Dublin. It includes four meeting rooms, a fitness suite, bar and restaurant.
Designed to achieve a BREEAM Very Good rating, the hotel includes green roofs, air-source heat pumps and EV charging points.
“Dublin remains an exceptionally strong and attractive hotel market, underpinned by continued economic growth, rising employment and growing business and leisure visitor numbers. The addition of this hotel represents another important step as we invest in high quality assets in key strategic markets,” Dalata Hotel Group outgoing CEO Dermot Crowley said in a statement.
Crowley is to step down from his role later this year, following the deal by Scandinavian property companies Pandox and Eiendomsspar to buy the owner of the Maldron Hotel and Clayton Hotel brands for €1.4B last year.
Crowley and Shane Casserly, the deputy CEO of Dalata, have committed to remain with the business for a period to ensure a smooth leadership transition and restructuring process.
